Just curious if anyone knows of good (not SUPER expensive) places to take your puppy to obedience traning?

Any help would be great, THANKS!

Mrs B

Esaunders

May 5th, 2006, 07:15 PM

We are starting Obedience 1 at Petsmart off of Mavis & 401 on the 20th. So far the instructor sounds quite good.

My bf and the puppy will be attending and I wil be observing. Would you like updates on how it goes?

mafiaprincess

May 5th, 2006, 07:23 PM

I started puppy OB at petsmart, was a nightmare with 13 dogs to one instructor, turned into horrible drama... after a few classes and a little bit of a wait we started basic OB at Petsmart, with 3 other dogs, and the most wonderful instructor and it went really well.

The number of dogs and the instructor is usually the make it or break it for their classes, along with having a dog with no unual outstanding problems that need help..

They are fairly affordable, but if you google dog training and your area you could browse other training places locally and at least see what they are about and cost. It's how I found my agility class I'm currently in, I found like 10 in the close enough area, and no one I knew had any experience with any of them.. You can also learn a lot from how their site is set up.. being way out of date for schedules, super sloppy, etc.

Luba

May 5th, 2006, 08:36 PM

Wonderful woman!

Dorothy Avery
www.motherknowsbest.ca

Bearsmom

May 6th, 2006, 09:57 AM

I absolutely have to recommend our trainer for our "problem child" (fear/aggression/snapping at people).

We brought Kaos to Mike of Wolfman K9 Obedience training (He's located at Winston Churchill Bv and Old School Road) near Caledon. This guy is an absolute MIRACLE worker with dogs.

If you visit his website www.wolfmank9obedience.com, it explains a lot about his training. We loved the fact that he just has this way with dogs, taking our "wild child" and turning him into a sweet, loving, obedient dog.

We did start out by taking Kaos to petsmart, but found that treats are used all the time for reward. Well, we ran into a problem when we didn't have any treats with us, and therefore the dog didn't listen.

I also like the fact that there is NO set time frame for training your dog; Mike at Wolfman K9 doesn't believe there's a set time frame (ie 8 weeks) to train your dog. With dogs with aggression issues, you can't set a frame on training for that.

I'm also a shiftworker, and loved the hours he has. We were also able to pay by payments, which was convenient for us.

Visit the website, PM me with any questions.

SnowDancer

May 6th, 2006, 11:50 AM

Bone Jour - Private training in your home - www.bonejourdogtrainingservices.ca. I wish I had known about this woman before my dog took private training and then group lessons at PetSmart - cost wise not a lot of difference - but results sure would have been. I picked up her brochure the other day - happened to see your post before going to pick up my guy from his weekly outing. I personally am acquainted with 4 of the dogs she has trained - 3 being his boyfriends/girlfriend. I am considering contacting the trainer for specific issues with my 2 year old guy.

Mrs Bungle

May 8th, 2006, 05:51 PM

Hey guys!

Thanks for all the replies!!! I have called just about everyone you have recommended.. I am still waiting on responses from some people.

I will let you guys know how it all works out (I dont know if I can post who I decided to go with though, can I??)

Anyway, I will keep yall posted,

thanks again!!

Bonnie S

May 9th, 2006, 07:56 AM

Hi,

Karen Minaker, who works out of Doggie Central in Mississauga is excellent! I've been taking my Shiba Inu, Sushi to her since he was a puppy. He is now 2.5 yrs old. We've done all levels of training, including agility.

Karen has over 20 yrs experience working with dogs, believes in positive reinforcement. I swear this woman whispers to the dogs and they immediately obey! lol

She is really great at working with each dog's own individual personality, instead of treating each dog exactly the same. Some need more work, attention, etc...

I HIGHLY recommend her!!!

You can call Doggie Central, their phone # is on their website, and ask for Karen Minaker (tell her red Sushi recommended her). http://www.doggiecentral.ca

Bonnie & Sushi

Beau'sMom

June 7th, 2006, 02:24 PM

I'm also a shiftworker, and loved the hours he has. We were also able to pay by payments, which was convenient for us.

Visit the website, PM me with any questions.
I get an error message when I try to PM but thankyou Bearsmom. I was reading through threads rather for answers to training rather then posting a new topic and your post was what I was looking for. Obedience classes that the whole family can participate in. :) Thank you! :thumbs up